Lists
- ranked 8 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs
- ranked 35 in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies
- ranked 38 in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Passions
- ranked 50 in Total Film's 100 Greatest Movies Of All Time
- ranked 59 in WGA 101 Greatest Screenplays
- ranked 122 in The IMDb Top 250
- ranked 197 in They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? 1000 Greatest Films (December 2006)
- ranked 248 in They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? 1000 Greatest Films (March 2006)
- ranked 259 in They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? 1000 Greatest Films (August 2005)
- ranked 297 in Empire 500 Greatest Movies (2008)
- one of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
- one of AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs Nominees
- one of AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies Nominees
- one of AFI's 100 Years... 100 Passions Nominees
- one of Alliance of Women Film Journalists Top 100 Films
- one of Best Director Academy Award Winners
- one of Best Picture Academy Award Winners
- one of Guardian 1,000 films to see before you die
- one of Leonard Maltin's 100 "Must See" Films of the 20th Century
- one of The New York Times Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made
- one of AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies, 10th Anniversary Edition
Indisputably a classic, at least by the standards of the romantic comedy genre, it's also a troubling look at 30s social mores. Modern examples tend to have strong, independent female leads; Hugh Grant has made a career out of playing charmingly diffident men.
Ellie Andrews (Claudette Colbert) is a spoiled, rich brat "taken in hand" by the domineering and borderline-abusive Peter Warne (Clark Gable). Near to the end of the film, Warne meets Andrews' father (Walter Connolly), and tells him:
Even more telling is the script direction:
A sensitive guy wouldn't be a real man! No, you need to smack the wife around a bit to keep her in line.
The re-education of rich socialites by men of the world was a popular theme at the time (My Man Godfrey) is a gentler example), but it's hard to excuse a feature about a romance consisting chiefly of one-sided insults. Does the poor girl have Stockholm Syndrome?
Still, it's a great script and the leads are terrific. It isn't the best of the 30s comedies, but it comes close.